Weather in Shanghai in November

A good month. November is a solid month to be in Shanghai. Highs average 17.7 °C, lows 10 °C, and rain falls on 10 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

November ranks 4 of 12 in Shanghai: past the worst of the year but short of October, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 10 days, 2 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 17.7 °C days and 10 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 29.1 °C and the coldest night fell to -3.8 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 39 mm — roughly 55% of the month's rain in one day.

November is moderately variable: 14 mm in the driest year against 153 mm in the wettest, around an average of 71 mm. Roughly two Novembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 12.7 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 77%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How November sits in the year

The month is on the way down: 5.7 °C cooler than October, with December dropping another 6.9 °C. The first week and the last are not the same trip.

Daylight in November

November sits at the dark end of Shanghai's year — 10.6 hours of daylight against 14.2 at midsummer, losing 0.7 hours across the month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 18.7 °C in November — swimmable, but it takes a moment to commit. The sea peaks at 27.5 °C in August and bottoms out at 8.5 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Busy. Popular without being frantic; book the things you care about, improvise the rest.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

November in Shanghai versus nearby

If Shanghai is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Hangzhou is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Nanjing is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 3 days less rain.

So: November works, with October the better month by 12 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in Shanghai

See all twelve months in Shanghai, or where else to go in November.